A Minus Symbian (and Android) Weekend

Not sure if I was trying to do this or not. But, at the end of the week where Symbian (the operating system that one of my Nokia phones uses) was officially declared to be dead (no longer new products made, support winding way down), I decided to pick up the other Nokia mobile with the just-as-dead operating system, and just see what I could do with things. To say its been an interesting weekend wouldn’t be too far off.

An interesting weekend? Not because anything went wrong, or even that I came across anything new. Only that I’ve had very little that has gotten in the way of living that its been just a bit more pleasant than I would have figured.

You see, it started when I simply switched out the SIM card from my N8 and put it into the N950. The N8 is the one that has the Symbian operating system. And yes, its got its niggles. I really keep it around for the server, contacts, and camera. That’s enough for me… seriously. But this weekend I went without.

The other thing put down (mostly) was my Kindle Fire HD. I did have it with me in some moments, but not as a main computing participant. Heck, after finding a crack in the screen, I considered calling Amazon and instead of asking about my warranty options, that I’d simply ask them credit me the cost of the device so that I could purchase that Motoactv fitness watch. Yes, the tablet was really that less wanted (btw: I did get a replacement KF-HD).

It was in the solidness of the N950, and the fact that I missed it when I left it in the car that really got to me. Sure, any mobile device could have handled the email I was looking for, but it seems as easy as it is on my tablet… even to the point of me not wanting to spend a lot of time in doing replies. Oh, there was that concert this weekend where the camera could have been a lot better, but the UI was enough that I wanted to explore. Nothing like my N8 where I knew of the similar features to tweak, but rarely used them.

The N950 has its failure points for me in this weekend experiment. I could have opted to purchase an app to continue reading the John Maxwell book, but not one that would have allowed me to enjoy the newly added tracks to Amazon Cloud Player. I would have been without some creativity, and probably in more of a need for a battery – this one is really in need of a replacement.

But, I leave the weekend gushing a bit. I smile.

There’s been few devices to move me like the N8 has. I really have enjoyed the pocketability, the camera, and even the little touches that scream “its a phone,” more than “its yet another connected device to manage. I get it, and admire that kind of development that made its way into Symbian. Of modern mobile platforms (Android, iOS, and even S40), there’s a missing to that point. One cannot stay in the past though. Eventually, you either follow the pack and acknowledge what’s there, or you become skilled enough to have your own outpost outside of the city, and be productive, even if fewer people will understand why you persist…

The N950 is that outpost on the corner. Or more specifically, the N9 would be if I owned that instead. I’d probably be like many, replacing the screen and battery now, if I’d purchased it when it came out. I’d find it hard to put down at times, and other times wanting to make it my qualifying entry into the phone throwing championships (yep, it exists). MeeGo is an unfinished wilderness of mobile that will keep its place around many mobilists for a while because its designed to persist. Not really excel, just persist.

Symbian on the other hand, well, it was designed to fold into life neatly. Such that you don’t even know its there, except for those moments when its not. To that end, its passing to mobile’s past will not seem like much to many. It really wasn’t all that noticed when it was here. Even though when it was active, there was no other place that the world’s stage would be (unless you really, really like Windows Mobile, Palm, and the older BlackBerry OS).

Part of me wonders still if I should persist down this path, or fold my own mobile self into the history books. There’s not much about mobile these days that moves me. I’m more moved by what people want to provoke, that might consist of something where a mobile is involved. Android gets that, and it seems to want to continue to be front and center, while facilitating something… not sure what, but something. I’m not interested as much in that meme, even if there are moments like now with my keyboard and this KF-HD that I am able to just expound a bit.

There have been passing ages in mobile before, and this is no different than others. I see in my weekend romp without Symbian but with MeeGo that sometimes its ok to quietly let go, and allow for other things to step into the place of relevancy. Perhaps my next purchased mobile will allow just that… and those who fit this age and space a bit better will have ample room to discourse on weekends about now, not about what was or could have been.